Reversible clip for slab to joist attachment



June 28, 1966 w. L. BUTTERFIELD ETAL REVERSIBLE CLIP FOR SLAB TO JOIST ATTACHMENT Filed July 31, 1962 FIGZ D mu OH TRM NT S ETO VUM W C L G HK um R WF A TTORNEY 3,257,766 REVERSIBLE CLIP FOR SLAB T JQIST ATTACHMENT Walter L. Butterlield, Whippany, and Frank G. Cacossa Montclair, NJ, assignors to The Flintkote Company,

New York, N.Y., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed July 31, 1962, Ser. No. 213,725 4- Claims. (Cl. 52--483) This invention relates to building construction, more particularly to roof constructions of the type wherein nited States Patent 0 FIG. 3 is a view, in perspective, of the fastening clip shown in FIGS. :1 and 2;

. deck construction utilizing the fastening clip of FIG. 4,

the roof deck is made up of relatively elongated slabs of insulation board spanning and secured to spaced metal joists.

Metal joists of several types, including so-called metal bar joists, have long been used in roof construction for supporting the roof deck. In use for roof construction, the slabs composing the roof deck rest upon and are supported by the upper horizontally disposed flange or flanges of the joist.

Various means and arrangements have heretofore been utilized or proposed for securing slabs of roof deck material to metal support beams or joists, including metal bar joists. Among such prior proposals are a number in which the slabs are secured to the joists by various forms of metal clips. Typical of the latter are those shown in the patents to Heeren et al. No. 2,014,841 and Manske et al., No. 2,083,725.

The arrangements heretofore proposed, however, are for the most part either impractical or suffer the objection that they entail the use of clips or other devices which are relatively complex and expensive to produce and/or install, or are ineflicient in serving the intended purpose of securing the deck slabs to the conventional metal joists.

The principal object of the invention, accordingly, is to provide a roof constructionwherein a roof deck is erected from relatively elongated slabs of insulation board spanning and eifectively secured to metal joists.

Another object of the invention is to provide a roof deck construction of the foregoing type wherein the slabs are securely fastened to the joists by means of a relatively inexpensive clip of a form enabling the roof deck to be installed by relatively unskilled labor and at a speed greater than is attained in constructions heretofore used.

Another object of the invention is to provide a roof deck construction as aforesaid, wherein the joists are of the metal bar type.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a construction of the character aforesaid, wherein the clip is of a form enabling it to be engaged with the horizontal flanges of the joists, irrespective of whether such flanges extend to the left or to the rightof the longitudinal dimension of the joists.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view, in perspective, illustrating a roof deck constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2, is an expanded view, partly in perspective and partly in cross-section, showing portions of two adjacent slabs as they appear when being installed and secured to a joist by one of the clips according to the invention;

as seen from the under side of the roof deck.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, the roof deck comprises relatively elongated slabs 10 of fibrous insulation board, resting upon and secured to the upper surface of spaced, parallel joists 11 extending parallel to one another, and with the upper surfaces of the slabs 10 all disposed in a common horizontal plane, the ends of the joists being supported upon the framework or side walls of the building in accordance with customary practice.

The joists 11 shown in the drawing are of conventional so-called metal bar type, i.e., fabricated from bars or rods 12 bent in zig-zag fashion and disposed between spaced pairs of longitudinally extending oppositely directed angle irons 14, 15 and 16, 17, th rods 12 being joined to the angle irons as by welding them to the opposed faces of the vertical legs 18, 19 of the angle irons. The joists are spaced from one another on 48" centers.

The slabs 10, composed of insulation board, which may be of conventional size such as eight feet by two feet, and of a three inch thickness, are disposed in a common horizontal plane and so as to span the joists, i.e., with their longitudinal dimension extending transversely of the direction in which the joists extend, the slabs being in engagement with one another and the bottom surface of the slabs resting upon the upper surface of the flanges 20, 21 of the angle irons 14, 15.

Although the joists illustrated in FIG. 1 are of the metal bar type, it should be apparent thatiother forms of metal joists having horizontally extending flanges comparable to flanges 20, 21 may be employed as supports for the roof deck in accordance with the invention.

The slabs 10 are of the tongue and groove type each being provided with a groove 23 extending inwardly along one of its longitudinal edges, and with a complementary tongue 24 extending outwardly along the opposite longitudinal edge thereof for interfitting engagement with the groove 23 of the transversely adjacent slab or slabs. The tongue and groove, preferably located adjacent the bottom face of the slabs, may conveniently be of a depth of about five-eighths inch and of a height of about one-quarter inch, with their bottom surfaces spaced about one-half inch from the bottom face of the slab.

In accordance with the invention, the slabs 10 are secured to the joists 11 by means of a clip member 30. The clip 30 is formed from flat sheet material, i.e., material of substantially uniform cross-sectional thickness and comprises a substantially rectangular member bent longitudinally thereof along a line 31 to provide a horizontally extending portion 32 of substantially uniform width throughout its length and a portion 33 depending therefrom in a plane substantially at a right angle to the plane of the portion 32. The longitudinal dimension of the clip may conveniently be two inches, and its transverse dimension may conveniently be one and five-eighths inches.

Extending inwardly from each side edge 34, 35 of the depending portion are horizontally elongated slots 36, 37, respectively, the slots being in horizontal alignment with one another and of a transverse dimension to engage over either of the flanges 20, 21 of the joists. The transverse dimension of the horizontal portion 32 of the clip is such as to be accommodated by the depth of the groove 23 formed in the slabs 10. This dimension, in the case of clips to be used for fastening slabs having grooves of the size above-mentioned, may be approximately one-half inch.

Each of the slots 36, 37, may'conveniently be of a length of about three-quarters inch, their inner ends thus being spaced from one another a distance of one-half inch in the case of a clip whose longitudinal dimension is two inches. The slots are formed with their upper aligned edges 38, 39 spaced from the bottom i.e., inner surface of the horizontal portion 32 a distance corresponding substantially to the thickness of the wall 28 of the groove.

The width, i.e., the transverse dimension of the slots 36, 37 is such as to readily accommodate the thickness and cross-sectional contour of the flanges 20, 21 of the joists either with a a somewhat snug or even a relatively loose fit. Thus, in actual practice, it has been found that clips formed with the slots 36, 37 seven thirty-seconds of an inch wide, when applied as shown on joists whose flanges 20, 21 are of three-sixteenths inch thickness, not only facilitate a rapid rate of application but are firmly held in place when the tongue 24 of the transversely adjacent slab was fitted into the groove 23 of the previously applied slab by means of a light hammer and tap ping block.

With the horizontally extending portion 32 of the clips thus disposed between the bottom surface of the groove 23 and the bottom surface of the interfitted tongue 24, and with one of the slots of each clip engaging a flange of the joists spanned by the slabs, not only are the clips securely anchored in the joint between the slabs, but at the same time the latter in turn securely fasten the interfitted slabs to the joist.

By reason of the slots 36, 37 extending inwardly from each side edge of the depending portion 33, the clips may, in application, be engaged with either of the oppositely directed flanges 20, 21 of the joints. Thus, there is avoided the necessity and attendant cost of furnishing and applying separate right hand and left hand clips for engagement with the oppositely directed flanges according to the direction in which their application is to proceed.

As will now be apparent, by utilizing the clips as above set forth, installation of the roof deck is simplified and speeded up. Thus, in actual practice, utilizing the fastening clip hereof in the manner above described, it is possible even for a relatively unskilled applicator to install the above-described insulation board slabs at a rate better than 1000 square feet per hour (exclusive of the time involved in hoisting the slabs to the top of the building).

As will be understood, in constructing a roof deck, the slabs of the first course (i.e., that illustrated at the top of FIG. 1) are installed after first ripping or otherwise removing the tongues 24 therefrom. They may be attached in any convenient manner along their outer longitudinal edges (from which tongues 24 have been removed) to a wood strip (2" by 8") indicated at 40,

bolted to the vertical leg of an angle iron 41 welded to the end of the flanges 20, 21 of the joists, which are supported on the upper edge 42 of the starting wall 43.

Although the slots 36, 37 are preferably of rectilinear outline, they may be of tapered outline so as to be slightly wider at their entrance than at the throat thereof, to accommodate joist flanges of tapering cross-sectional thickness. In such instances, a slight tapping with a hammer should suffice for fitting the clip onto the joist flange.

As will be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the lower ends of the clip, i.e., the portion between the lower edges of the slots 36, 37 and the bottom edge 44 thereof, extends downwardly below the flanges 20, 21' in a plane substantially at a right angle to that of the exposed bottom surface of the slabs. Their presence in the installation is thus descernible from below, when viewed from a distance less than, say, eight or ten feet. These downwardly extending exposed portions of the clips may also interfere with subsequent painting of the joists or the ceiling formed by the bottom surface of the roof deck.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, there is shown a modified form of clip formed so as to render the presence thereof in the finished construction less readily descernible and so as not to interfere with subsequent painting of the joists and/ or the ceiling. In this form of clip, indicated at 50, the portion 53 depending at a right angle with respect to the portion 52, is bent longitudinally thereof along the line 54 at the lower edges of the slots 56, 57 so as to provide a portion 58 disposed in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the portion 52, and extending preferably in a direction opposite to that in which the portion 52 extends with respect to downwardly depending portion 53. Thus, as will be seen, particularly from FIG. 5, when this form of the clip has been installed, the lower terminal portion 58 thereof will lie in a plane substantially parallel to that of the bottom surface of the slabs and hence will neither be readily discernible from below nor interfere with subsequent painting of the joists or ceiling.

The clips herein described are preferably fabricated from metal such as steel, of 0.050 inch thickness. If desired, however, they may be made of suitable plastic material of the required strength, by extrusion, injection molding or other suitable method.

What is claimed is:

1. A roof or like construction comprising:

(1) a plurality of spaced metal joists, each having a horizontal flange extending length-wise thereof;

(2) a roof deck supported on said joists, said deck comprising relatively elongated slabs of tongue and groove board resting on the upper surface of said flanges and disposed with said tongues of one board in engagement with the groove of another board, said slabs extending transversely of the direction in which said joists extend and in a plane at a right angle to the planes in which said joists extend; and

(3) spaced clips of flat sheet metal, securing said slabs to said joists, each of said clips having:

(a) a depending portion formed with a hori- Zontally directed slot extending inwardly from each of its side edges, intermediate the upper and lower ends of said depending portion, each of said slots having a transverse dimension for engaging the flange of said joists, and

(b) a portion extending in a plane substantially at a right angle to the plane of said depending portion,

said second-named portion being bent along a line extending substantially parallel to and spaced from the upper edge of said slots, said spacing corresponding substantially to the thickness of the bottom wall of the grooves of said slabs, said second-named portion engaging the inner surface of said bottom wall of the groove, and one of said slots engaging the flange of a joist, whereby to hold the slab in contact with said upper surface of said flange, said second-named portion being disposed between said inner surface of the groove in one slab and the bottom of the tongue of the adjacent slab engaged by said groove.

2. The construction defined in claim 1, wherein said first-named portion is bent longitudinally along the lower edges of said slots into a plane substantially parallel to the plane of said second-named portion.

3. The construction as defined in claim 2, wherein said longitudinally bent portion extends in the direction opposite to that in which said second-named portion extends.

5 6 4. The construction as defined in claim 1, wherein said 2,014,841 9/1935 Heeren et a1. 52489 second-named portion is of a transverse dimension ap- 2,083,725 6/1937 Manske et a1. 52489 proximating the depth of the groove in said slabs. 2,091,750 8/1937 Coddington 52601 2,900,677 8/1959 Yetter 52492 References (Zited by the Examiner 5 3,031,725 5/1962 Ornholt 52492 UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 757,863 4/1904 Ewart 52714 7 1 0 11 1914 France 854,209 5/1907 9 189-35 868,490 5/1961 Great Britain. 1,299,868 4/ 1919 Stemhe1ser 189-35 1,465,812 8/1923 Dunbar 52714 10 FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner. 1,836,828 12/1931 Venzie 52-359 1,923,906 8/1933 Berger 52 356 SUTHERLAND Emmme" 1,935,537 11/ 1933 Balduf 52346 J. L. RIDGILL, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A ROOF OR LIKE CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING: (1) A PLURALITY OF SPACED METAL JOISTS, EACH HAVING A HORIZONTAL FLANGE EXTENDING LENGTH-WISE THEREOF; (2) A ROOF DECK SUPPORTED ON SAID JOISTS, SAID DECK COMPRISING RELATIVELY ELONGATED SLABS OF TONGUE AND GROOVE BOARD RESTING ON THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID FLANGES AND DISPOSED WITH SAID TONGUES OF ONE BOARD IN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE GROOVE OF ANOTHER BOARD, SAID SLABS EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF THE DIRECTION IN WHICH SAID JOISTS EXTEND AND IN A PLANE AT A RIGHT ANGLE TO THE PLANES IN WHICH SAID JOISTS EXTEND; AND (3) SPACED CLIPS OF FLAT WHICH METAL, SECURING SAID SLABS TO SAID JOISTS, EACH OF SAID CLIPS HAVING: (A) A DEPENDING PORTION FORMED WITH A HORIZONTALLY DIRECTED SLOT EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM EACH OF ITS SIDE EDGES, INTERMEDIATE THE UPPER AND LOWER ENDS OF SAID DEPENDING PORTION, EACH OF SAID SLOTS HAVING A TRANSVERSE DIMENSION FOR ENGAGING THE FLANGE OF SAID JOISTS, AND (B) A PORTION EXTENDING IN A PLANE SUBSTANTIALLY AT A RIGHT ANGLE TO THE PLANE OF SAID DEPENDING PORTION, SAID SECOND-NAMED PORTION BEING BENT ALONG A LINE EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO AND SPACED FROM THE UPPER EDGE OF SAID SLOTS, SAID SPACING CORRESPONDING SUBSTANTIALLY TO THE THICKNESS OF THE BOTTOM WALL OF THE GROOVES OF SAID SLABS, SAID SECOND-NAMED PORTION ENGAGING THE INNER SURFACE OF SAID BOTTOM WALL OF THE GROOVE, AND ONE OF SAID SLOTS ENGAGING THE FLANGE OF A JOIST, WHEREBY TO HOLD THE SLAB IN CONTACT WITH SAID UPPER SURFACE OF SAID FLANGE, SAID SECOND-NAMED PORTION BEING DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID INNER SURFACE OF THE GROOVE IN ONE SLAB AND THE BOTTOM OF THE TONGUE OF THE ADJACENT SLAB ENGAGED BY SAID GROOVE. 